Academy City

Information

Academy City (学園 都市 Gakuen Toshi) is the primary setting of the Toaru Majutsu no Index series and its side stories.

As the city's name suggests, it is a city of several schools and institutions of higher learning from kindergarten to university level that learn side-by-side along with the scientists who research on psychic powers and higher technology, the latter being one of the primary reasons for its establishment. It is the most advanced city in the world and its technology is said to be 30 years ahead of what's 'outside' of Academy City.

Academy City is composed of 23 districts, called School Districts which are simply numbered from one to twenty-three and each of these districts have a specific purpose.

Demographic

Academy City's total population is about 2.3 million with 80% of them being students and 1/8 of those students living in the city dorms. Of the entire student population, about 60% of them have the ability to demonstrate even a slight amount of psychic ability (these are Power Users of Levels 0-5). The remaining 20% of the students in Academy City pursue other subjects instead of going under the Power Curriculum Program, like Tsuchimikado Maika, who studies in a maid school.

It is unknown if Child Errors are part of the 80% demographic since they are no longer given any support from their guardians. On the other hand, it is highly probable that drop-outs and gangs such as Skill-Out are part of the remaining 20% demographic.

Security

Academy City's technology is thirty years ahead of its time and thus, has accessibility to a more sophisticated array of measures to ensure security across the city.

The city limits leading outside are lined with walls, accessible only through entry points which require persons to have permission to enter or leave the premises. Inside the city, hidden cameras are dotted along every road and alleyway.

In addition to the ground-level security protocols in Academy City, the satellite Orihime 1 (where the Tree Diagram supercomputer is located) and Hikoboshi II (a camera satellite and also a satellite laser-cannon) gathers detailed pictures of the area and relays it back to Earth.

The primary peacekeeping forces in Academy City are Judgment and Anti-Skill; these two groups are composed of trained students and faculty respectively which deal with crimes and conflicts with security. They are authorized to retrieve Information from surveillance equipment within Academy City, to check if there are any crimes occurring, in addition to their constant patrol duties.

Unfortunately, security in Academy City is revealed to have severe flaws in it. Because of the destruction of Orihime 1, live feeds of satellite images are greatly reduced. Magicians can easily enter Academy City and, like Sherry Cromwell, can cause damage despite the presence of Judgment and Anti-Skill units. Also, it has been revealed that parts of District 10 of Academy City have been completely overrun by its inhabitants, unreachable by technology due to the Skill-Out members destroying the hidden cameras and security robots throughout the area.

Though there are other forces like the HsPS-15 armoured AI, other advanced technology, and groups like MEMBER and ITEM, they are mostly politically motivated factions working for one of the 12 Board of Directors of Academy City or Aleister Crowley, and care less about security and more on furthering their (or their employer's) own interests.